System Performance (um, NOT performance)

Hi folks, trying to enter the 21st Century of Cakewalk here - wondering if I could run an issue by you all for some advice. Man, I have a new system I got last Christmas - preconfigured by Sweetwater Sound - and damn, I can't get it to run stable, had better results on my old Sonar 7/Windows XP rig that I only gave up because my old MOTU 24 interface finally gave out. I run 24 physical channels of 96/24 audio back into my console to mix.....the new system is
 
 - Cakewalk by Bandlab (after buying a full-boat SONAR last December, ouch ;-)
 - Intel i5-7600 CPU @ 3.50 gHZ
- Windows 10 Home
- 16GB RAM
- MOTU 24 Ai/Ao interface
 
The track I am trying to work on is typical for me - and I used to be able to do this on the old system no problem - 56 tracks (49 audio, with 27 of those Archived, 2 soft synths with 7 MIDI tracks), moderate amount of plug-ins.
 
All of my performance specs seems pretty good - never get over 50% on disk, or over 25% of processor. 
Playback is sometimes good, sometimes glitchy. Recording is a nightmare - incredible latency issues whatever I do, and clicks and pops on tracks.
 
Wondering about expected system performance given the specs above, if I just have too great of expectations? Not enough processor/RAM? Any under-the-hood tricks?? I am trying to research on my own but struggling, studio work at a standstill, any help greatly appreciated - thanks, all, hope all is well - 
 
Tim Brickley

 

It's a long read, but here is a document that may help. 

The only thing I would not do from this document is set “Processor scheduling” to "Background services” (outlined on page 35). Leave it set to “Programs”.   I have seen posts on these forums that indicate that Sonar (and now Cakewalk by Bandlab) does not benefit from this setting. 

https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree/

Before tracking try hitting global FX bypass (E) since you are fairly deep into that project, you could easily have a plugin with a look ahead buffer running.

LatencyMon is a utility to check processes in your system. Some will stand out but others you may need insight on. Best to run this when the DAW is running (it will affect latency, so just do this to capture data). The tabs in LatencyMon are good to check processes, and you can also click on the column headers to better sort the offenders.

Most things have been covered above already, but it is rare to get everything in one pass. Be sure to check back here as you go... We have all lived through this experience.
 
[Edit] Added link to LatencyMon and more description of it. I also realized that core parking (power management advanced settings) might be an issue, as well as things like USB port idling (also in Power Management). Nvidia audio drivers (if enabled) should also be disabled in the Device Manager. Auto Network Discovery is another common issue that comes to mind. Here is a link to an old post that catches some of the above.
 
At some point, I really need to consolidate these into a single page.

You mention issues with tracking. Is this always an issue or just when you get deep into a project and already have tons of tracks and possibly plugins? If the project is already stacked with stuff...do an fix bypass as mentioned or freeze tracks with any cpu intensive plugins

Your pc is very very similar to mine and your specs are slightly better actually, yet I have no issues. I can throw 10 mics on a kit and record all 10 at 88.2 or higher with no issues.

I’m wondering if the interface needs a driver update or some buffer tweaking etc.